1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to machines for cleaning grates over dairy barn manure drain troughs.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, farmers and agribusiness have made giant-sized strides in automating the time-consuming and physically demanding tasks of dairy operations. For example, the morning and evening chore of milking is speeded up considerably with modern pipeline systems that reduce handling and measurably improve sanitation. Confinement of cows inside the barn is another modern dairy management practice. Facilities custom built for this, called tie stall barns, are designed to house cows inside the barn year around.
This style of barn requires a system for removing manure while still maintaining good sanitation. The usual system is an open gutter covered by grates. The gutter is usually cleaned by a slurry system. In one style facility called a New York tie stall barn, manure falls through the grates into a pit beneath the floor. From the pit, manure is periodically pumped outside to a holding area or hauled away. However, this system still leaves dairy farmers with the time-consuming and difficult job of hand-scraping every single grate for the entire gutter length of the barn.
These gutters or troughs are covered, for safety and sanitation reasons. Manure falls through the grate and is carried away in the trough. The manure, however, often tends to stick to the grate. This is a safety hazard, as well as a sanitary problem. The farmer must frequently run the cows out of the barn and clean the grate. The common method in the prior art is to hose down the grate with water and scrape off the residual manure with a hoe, rake, or shovel. The cows must be removed from the barn or there is a risk that an excited or annoyed animal will kick the sweeper. Driving out the cows for the cleaning process and the subsequent returning of the cows take an inordinate amount of time for such a chore. As a result, the grates are usually removed only on a yearly basis and cleaned with a high-pressure hose.
A search has found that many cleaning machines have been developed for special purpose applications. The following 11 U.S. Pat. Nos. were located during the search:
853,525 5/14/07 Stewart PA0 1,644,189 10/14/27 Hendricks PA0 1,892,347 12/27/32 Jerome PA0 3,045,267 7/24/62 Wagner PA0 3,079,285 2/26/63 Rockwell PA0 3,321,331 5/23/67 McNeely PA0 3,584,329 6/15/71 Cravits PA0 3,828,390 8/13/74 Cater PA0 3,871,051 3/18/75 Collier PA0 3,985,103 10/12/76 Gallei PA0 4,136,420 1/30/79 Cyphert et al
Ten of these patents are for special cleaning purposes which have little to do with the present barn grate cleaning problem. Cater and Cyphert et al are carpet cleaners. Cravits is specifically for cleaning moving stairways. Rockwell and Wagner are for cleaning surfaces. None of these five patents discloses a rotating cylindrical brush.
Five patents were found which employed rotating cylindrical brushes. Collier applies cleaning fluid and uses a rotating brush to scrub the carpet. Hendricks scrubs a floor with a rotating brush. Stewart sweeps and scrubs with a rotating cylindrical brush. Jerome is a floor washer which applies liquid and scrubs a surface. McNeely is designed to clean a bowling lane. None of these five patents has a rotating cylindrical brush adapted for heavy duty use such as barn cleaning.
The only patent which deals with barn cleaning is Gallei. This employs a rotating brush which is moved through a manure channel to clean the channel. It is not designed to clean the grate above the channel. The Gallei patent mentions that it is known to clean the grid above the manure channel by means of a cylindrical rotary brush with a horizontal axis of rotation.